Want to be a Successful Leader? It is Not as Easy as You Think!

A leader is the one who leads one or more people to achieve common goals or purposes. The word leader derives from the old English word 'lædan,' meaning 'to go before as a guide.' Leadership is an essential aspect of management. The ability to lead effectively is one of the keys to being an effective manager. There are various types and styles of leadership and adapting the best suitable style is the key to become a successful leader. You can find people in leadership roles almost everywhere you look. However, simply having the responsibilities of a leader doesn't necessarily make a person an effective leader. The good news is that, with training, humility, empathy, hardiness and hard work, all of us can learn how to lead effectively. Leadership is all about lead more and manages less. It is to empower, inspire and energise people and unlock their true potential! It is all about guiding and directing your team to achieve more as a team. You must learn how to lead yourself before leading others. You should be able to assess your leadership capabilities, styles and nature. It is essential to discover the leader within you and you should learn how to:

• create a reliable, robust and attractive vision of the future that people will respect and believe in to help the team to follow your lead enthusiastically;


• communicate your vision, and help them see the benefits so that people work to the best of their abilities to complete the projects you initiate successfully;


• grow your self-confidence, becoming a calm and self-confident leader and one who inspires confidence in others;


• build a reputation for expertise and a track record of achievement that team members and your peers will come to respect, value and trust;


• make good decisions under pressure, with the confidence that you have done the homework needed for these decisions to be right;


• build a strong, flexible and highly effective team, expanding your ability to deliver better results many times over;


• build the empathic, mutually trusting relationships needed for maximum team performance;


• develop and enjoy mutually rewarding, cooperative working relationships with team members and peers;


• create and enjoy the happy, energizing atmosphere that motivates everyone in the team;


• keep people on target and performing well together in a "firm but fair way" that gets the job done while respecting the rights of team members;


• learn to inspire and motivate team members by helping them identify their personal advantage so that they will "go to the ends of the Earth" to give their very best;


• become a truly inspirational leader who leads by example and not by fear and coerces and enjoys its advantages;


• relentlessly upgrade your team by keeping quality and professionalism;


• continuously creating effective followers who connect with the big dream;


• do intentional networking and housekeeping;


• create target eustress and stretch personal limits to bring out peak performance from the team;


• use every challenge as an opportunity to evaluate, coach and build self-confidence and team confidence;


• inspire everyone to use possibility thinking by radiating positive energy and optimism;


• establish trust with candor, transparency and credit in the team;


• have the courage to make unpopular decisions when necessary and be responsible for them;


• inspire risk-taking and learning by setting the example and inculcating values in the followers by living it;


• probe and push with a curiosity that borders on skepticism, making sure cynicism are answered with action;


• make a strong structure for the team with functioning strategies and develop team cohesion;


• create an effective strategic structure for the organisation to build your robust vision;


• respect communication as the lifeblood of the organisation and ensure positive and energetic communication possible at every level;


• be fearless when faced with criticism which helps in creating effective followers;


• how to celebrate success no matter how small or big so that the team feels the accomplishment and appreciation;


• make determination, commitment, dedication and strong action as work virtues;


• make your presence impactful and actions fruitful;


• motivating people to action, partly through empowerment and partly through basic need gratification;


• create a leadership process that creates the needed change in the organisation and deal with any uncertainty the process brings;


• develop basic leadership qualities such as bravery, intelligence, firmness, trust and caring about people;


• use power effectively and in a responsible manner;


• comprehend that people are motivated by different factors at different times and in different situations.


• inspire the followers to apply their full capabilities to a task;


• act in a manner that will develop a climate conducive to responding to and arousing motivation;


• listen carefully to the concerns and uncertainties of their team members, and make sure that they address these in making a persuasive appeal;


• be open to feedback and flexible to make improvements as appropriate;


• make time for your team and create an environment where innovation and creativity flourishes;


• be creative in using the power appropriately, consider the expected and unexpected consequences of it, and decide what you will do differently next time;


• be aware of the power you have, and use it to get what you need, confidently and effectively;


• build your leadership skills by using and developing your own sources of power appropriately and for the best effect;

Leaders will upgrade themselves with essential leadership and management skills such as organising, managing performances, team building and cohesion, managing meeting, problem-solving and decision making, communication and interpersonal, mentoring and coaching, people management, proactive and assertive, change management, delegation, motivation, handling grievances, personal competence, presentation and public speaking, influencing, risk management, empathy and social, organisational culture and behaviour modification, emotional intelligence, turning emotions into powerful actions followership, team cohesion and strategic planning.

A good leader must possess the practical knowledge of communicating vision, set clear goals and team strategy, growing your self-confidence and team confidence, build a reputation, make good decisions, build a strong and effective team, develop empathetic and mutually trusting relationships, enjoy mutually rewarding, cooperative working relationships, be firm but fair way, learn to inspire and motivate, establish trust with candor, transparency and credit, become a truly inspirational leader who brings the best out of people.

The true leader is a visionary who breathes courage and determination and achieves success amidst many challenges. Leadership is not easy as it sounds. You may be born with strong leadership traits, but you need to build your leadership capabilities to become a successful leader.